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Post by 1dave on Jan 20, 2017 10:24:22 GMT -5
You may be wrapping with different size wire.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 20, 2017 10:42:20 GMT -5
You may be wrapping with different size wire. After we get the motor and the bit we will use a length of 20 gauge square wire laying next to the depth gauge and even with the edge of the bit. The we will clamp the depth strip in place. Remove the wire and its set to 20 gauge cutting depth. "If I decide to use another wire size down the road, just repeat depth setting procedure" using new wire. Easy peasy. Most if not all of my groove wraps (the actual wire surrounding the cab) will be done using 20 gauge square wire. The cutting width of the bit pretty much limits the size of the wire being used. The ability to turn the wire into a bail is also something to be considered. For those reasons most of my groove wraps will be done with 20 gauge square. I realize that I could cut wider grooves by making two passes with the bit, one at first height and another with the bit raised slightly. I could then use a wider piece of stuff or something. Wider stuff would require special bail design I think. Maybe more than I could figure out. This machine will be easy to experiment with different settings for sure. I just don't plan on getting too radical most of the time. The end game for me is a summer stand out by our road where I can sell Michigan rocks found and made in Michigan (on days not reserved for rockhounding.) We want to be able to turn out consistently simple well wrapped stones (mostly Petoskeys and Lightning Stones) cabbed for pendants and sell them to the rich people who live down at the lakeshore who drive by our property every day and the constant flow of beachgoers driving by who swim down at Lake Michigan and a state park at the end of our road. The kind of wrap we are looking to do is like the one done in this thread because it looks nice and is fairly easy to do. Many thanks to Chuck for the inspiration to do all of this.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 21, 2017 17:53:25 GMT -5
Getting the preforms ready for grooving Our first two will be left: Lightning Stone Right: Variolite (Nebula Stone?) That one needs some more shaping still. Still gotta wait almost two weeks to buy the motor but we will fill our waiting in with getting some more cabs ready for the process.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 22, 2017 19:21:24 GMT -5
We got the electrical box, switch, and some recycled power cord and mounted it on the right side piece of the frame. The grooving process is not going to throw water or spray. There should be no issues with the handy box being metal and not plastic. The tray can be lifted straight out without spillage for emptying it. The entire circuit is grounded as well. There was no room for a plastic box. They were all too big. The handy box was $.88. A plastic one at least $5.00. Should any issues with water arrise some other switch will be used.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 14:00:51 GMT -5
You may be wrapping with different size wire. The end game for me is a summer stand out by our road where I can sell Michigan rocks found and made in Michigan (on days not reserved for rockhounding.) We want to be able to turn out consistently simple well wrapped stones (mostly Petoskeys and Lightning Stones) cabbed for pendants and sell them to the rich people who live down at the lakeshore who drive by our property every day and the constant flow of beachgoers driving by who swim down at Lake Michigan and a state park at the end of our road. The kind of wrap we are looking to do is like the one done in this thread because it looks nice and is fairly easy to do. Many thanks to Chuck for the inspiration to do all of this. I hope the revenuers dont shut down a roadside attraction such as you describe. Lemonade stands are being shut down every summer nationwide. I am half kidding. Truthfully, I hope for your success and enough profits to spend winter with captbob in Florida.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 24, 2017 19:16:43 GMT -5
Them thar revenuers know better than to mess with us back roads Michigan hicks. They don't have the guts.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 25, 2017 10:14:16 GMT -5
Looking good so far! I may have missed it, but does your man do the powder coating himself or send it out?
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 25, 2017 16:44:10 GMT -5
Looking good so far! I may have missed it, but does your man do the powder coating himself or send it out? He has a powder coat gun and an oven to cure it.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 25, 2017 16:52:50 GMT -5
Looking good so far! I may have missed it, but does your man do the powder coating himself or send it out? He has a powder coat gun and an oven to cure it. How did I know that?? LOL! He totally rocks..... and wins the prize for most tools.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 25, 2017 17:48:58 GMT -5
He has a powder coat gun and an oven to cure it. How did I know that?? LOL! He totally rocks..... and wins the prize for most tools. He used to build machines professionally and has thousands of dollars invested in tools. He bought the powder coater about ten years ago when he was building a chopper motorcycle from the ground up. It's still out in the pole barn waiting for a motor. He had major health issues that took the remainder of the motorcycle build budget before he got done with that one. Someday maybe.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 25, 2017 18:21:01 GMT -5
How did I know that?? LOL! He totally rocks..... and wins the prize for most tools. He used to build machines professionally and has thousands of dollars invested in tools. He bought the powder coater about ten years ago when he was building a chopper motorcycle from the ground up. It's still out in the pole barn waiting for a motor. He had major health issues that took the remainder of the motorcycle build budget before he got done with that one. Someday maybe. That makes sense. Tools of the trade. Still you have to know it is envious. Me and DH dream of having a huge garage just for tools and hobbies. All our hobbies are on the small scale, though. I hope he gets to finish his bike one of these days.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Jan 30, 2017 21:45:42 GMT -5
Had a warm spell for a few days so we made some cab pre forms to groove when we get the motor. We are ordering the motor and bit finally on Friday.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Feb 6, 2017 15:27:01 GMT -5
The diamond bits came in the mail today. We're hoping the motor comes tomorrow. It's one step closer to grooving.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Feb 6, 2017 16:30:33 GMT -5
Hubby took a close look at those bits. He said they look like two different thicknesses of cut. He went and got his calipers and sure enough one bit was 10/1000 of an inch thicker than the other one. Then he took measurements at different spots on the cutting edge. On the thicker one of the two bits it varies by up to 10/1000 just on that bit. The smaller bit only varied by 3/1000 on its cutting edge. Hubby is frustrated at this lack of quality control and is wondering which bit to use. The thicker of the two is 50/1000 thick at the thickest point and 40/1000 thick at the thinnest point. He doesn't have any wire to compare to right now. He plans on using 20 gauge square wire in the groove. Does anyone know what 20 gauge equates to in thousandths? Below: First two are pics of the caliper readings on the thicker of the two bits showing the 10/1000 size spread. Below are two pics of the thinner bit at its thickest and thinnest points. One more question. Are these two bits supposed to be the same? Or is the size difference intentional.
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Post by toiv0 on Feb 6, 2017 17:21:20 GMT -5
Rio says 20 ga square is .032 or .81 mm
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Feb 6, 2017 18:59:26 GMT -5
Rio says 20 ga square is .032 or .81 mm Thank you. So, from hubby's measurements, it looks like the small bit is 31.5/1000. Seems maybe too small. The large bit will make a 50/1000 wide groove.Seems maybe too large. I guess we'll just try them and see when we get the motor tomorrow.
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Post by toiv0 on Feb 6, 2017 19:11:46 GMT -5
use a scrap cab to play with, is your wire dead soft? I am excited to see end results. I would have hooked it up to a drill just for play.
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ziggy
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2016
Posts: 483
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Post by ziggy on Feb 6, 2017 19:50:20 GMT -5
use a scrap cab to play with, is your wire dead soft? I am excited to see end results. I would have hooked it up to a drill just for play. Right now we are without any wire at all. We just ordered 6' of half hard sterling square 20 gauge. It said in the description it is for wire wrapping so I guess we'll find out when it comes if it is the right stuff. I don't think I have a scrap cab to test on but we might have one after that first try😁 The motor is coming tomorrow for sure so a video of the groover in action is coming soon after. No way to mount a drill in our machine or he might have done that too.
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Post by toiv0 on Feb 6, 2017 21:51:05 GMT -5
I might have some 20 ga brass laying around I will look. Could donate to the cause ...that is if I can find it.
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Post by parfive on Feb 6, 2017 22:01:54 GMT -5
Run ‘em through a rock or two—knockin’ off the high spots—then worry about a few thousandths.
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